• Christian Governor in Indonesia Found Guilty of Blasphemy Against Islam - The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/world/asia/indonesia-governor-ahok-basuki-tjahaja-purnama-blasphemy-islam.html

    An Indonesian court found the Christian governor of Jakarta guilty of blasphemy against Islam on Tuesday, sentencing him to two years in prison in a case widely seen as a test of religious tolerance and free speech.

    The governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, was defeated last month in an election in which the blasphemy case, and religion, became a major issue.

    Blasphemy is a crime in Indonesia, a secular democracy with the world’s largest Muslim population.

    The sentence was harsher than what prosecutors had asked for. They had recommended a sentence of two years’ probation on a lesser charge, which would have spared Mr. Basuki prison time.

    Mr. Basuki told reporters that he would appeal the ruling.

    Mr. Basuki became governor of Jakarta, the capital, in 2014 when his predecessor, Joko Widodo, became president. Mr. Basuki, known as Ahok, was only the city’s second non-Muslim governor and had hoped to become its first directly elected non-Muslim leader.

    He had been leading in the polls last year, but in September his campaign faltered when he tried to address attacks from Muslim hard-liners who argued that the Quran forbade Muslims from voting for a non-Muslim. Mr. Basuki said those making that argument were misleading Muslims, a statement that was interpreted by some as insulting the Quran.

    Muslim groups organized mass rallies against him, demanding that he be jailed for blasphemy.

    His defeat last month was seen as a sign of the increasing power of Muslim conservatives, who have pressed for the adoption of Islamic law, or Shariah, throughout the archipelago.